1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a process and apparatus for booting a workstation, and more particularly, the present invention is directed to controlling PXE based boot decisions from a network directory via a proxy server.
2. Background
PXE is an acronym for Pre-boot Execution Environment, which is a component of Intel®'s Wired For Management (WfM) specification. The PXE model provides computers the ability to load and execute a network bootstrap program (NBP) from a server on the network prior to, or in the alternative, booting the operating system on a local hard drive. PXE is accomplished remotely which eliminates the need for network administrators to visit individual workstation computers.
Using PXE, users at workstations currently may be given the choice of booting to DOS, Windows, or Linux via a query to PXE servers on the network. The PXE servers as a result of the query then forward boot options to the particular workstation performing the query. The boot options are then presented to the user via a simple menu (generally). Upon selection of one of the boot options, a boot image file (called a PXE image) is forwarded to the workstation via the network, at which time the workstation then boots according to the image.
However, the user of the workstation is currently allowed to select which boot option. Accordingly, the user may select an option in which the particular workstation does not have the ability to handle (e.g., lack of sufficient processing power, inability to boot with a specific operating system, and the like), or may choose an option in which the user should not have access to.
Moreover, for many corporate environments, however, it is not desirable to present the user with a choice of boot options but to specify what boot image will be used for a particular workstation.